Ordeal Weekend
Ordeal Weekend
When Lord Baden-Powell decided to start the Boy Scouts, he took them camping, on an island. He wanted scouting to be an outdoor experience.
Since scouting in America was to be an outdoor oriented adventure, it needed a camping area, Treasure Island Scout Reservation near Philadelphia was opened in 1915 under the tutelage of E. Urner Goodman and Carroll A. Edson. It didn’t take long for the two directors to discover that they needed to reward the scouts in some way as the campers they were. In an effort to recognize outstanding select campers for their cheerful spirits of service at Treasure Island Scout 
Camp,Goodman and Edson, had heard BSA founder Ernest Thompson Seton talk about the Native American traditions underlying his Woodcraft Indians. They combined those ideas with the lore of the area’s Lenni Lenape tribe. With those thoughts in mind, they created a society called Wimachtendienk Wingolauchsik Witahemui—Lenni Lenape for brotherhood, cheerfulness, and service. They held there first Ordeal Ceremony on July 16th, 1915. Within just a few short years that society spread to other scout camps by 1922 became an official program experiment and was approved as part of the Scouting program in 1934. Although it began without national approval, it was eventually admitted as an “Official Experiment” of Scouting America. In 1948, following an extensive review, it became a program of the organization.
Today it is known as Order of the Arrow (OA) and is considered the honor society of Scouting America.
It comprises the Scouts and Scouters who best exemplify the Scout Oath and Law in their daily lives as elected by their peers.
Throughout the years, the Order of the Arrow represents an integral component in the scouting program and in the community service it provides to the local communities.
The Order of the Arrow consists of lodges throughout the country. It is youth lead by the members under 21.
Candidates that have attained the rank of First Class and fulfilled the camping requirements are elected by their peers to this honor society.
The selected candidates meet their first challenge at the Ordeal Weekend.
The Ordeal
The “Ordeal” is centered around two factors; service and looking inward. During the Ordeal, candidates learn about the traditions and customs of the Order of the Arrow but, more importantly, they learn more about themselves, leadership, and the Brotherhood of Scouting.
Ordeal Weekend begins tomorrow evening, April 24, 2026, at Camp Lawton, in Tucson, AZ. Come prepared.
Be Prepared,
Uncle Ralph
Source: https://oa-scouting.org/history
